UH football schedule set, but sites aren’t

Updated 10:26 pm, Wednesday, March 6, 2013

The Cougars may play their home games at Reliant Stadium while their new stadium is being built on campus. (AP Photo/Patric Schneider)

The Cougars may play their home games at Reliant Stadium while their new stadium is being built on campus. (AP Photo/Patric Schneider)

Photo: Patric Schneider, FRE

UH football schedule set, but sites aren’t

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Houston learned the dates of its inaugural Big East football schedule Wednesday.

Where the Cougars play some of their home games, however, remains a mystery.

Mack Rhoades, UH's vice president of intercollegiate athletics, said the school has reached a verbal agreement to play the home portion of its 2013 schedule at Reliant Stadium.

Still uncertain is what conflicts may arise with the Texans when the NFL releases its schedule in mid-April. The Cougars are in need of a playing venue with current construction on a new 40,000-seat on-campus stadium scheduled for completion in August 2014.

"What I can say, as of today, is we certainly believe that we will play a majority — or most of — our games at Reliant," Rhoades said.

Other options exist

The annual Bayou Bucket game between UH and Rice, scheduled for Sept. 21, is the only one of the Cougars' seven home dates locked in to Reliant Stadium.

If necessary, Rhoades said the Cougars will explore other options if Reliant is unavailable."We've talked to some other facilities," Rhoades said. "I'm not going to mention those names. We have some options."

Rice Stadium, BBVA Compass Stadium, home of Major League Soccer's Dynamo, and Minute Maid Park are considered options.

The Cougars will play their inaugural game in the soon-to-be-renamed Big East on Sept. 7 against Temple in Philadelphia. The rest of the road schedule includes games against Rutgers (Oct. 26) and tough back-to-back weekends against UCF (Nov. 9) and Louisville (Nov. 16), which could begin the season ranked in the top 10.

The season opener is at home Aug. 30 against Southern, part of a non-conference schedule that includes home games against Rice and BYU (Oct. 19) and at UTSA (Sept. 28).

The Big East will unveil a name in the coming months following the departure of the so-called "Catholic 7" basketball schools, which will retain the conference's name.

Rhoades said there have been "some challenges and obstacles" navigating possible schedule conflicts with the Texans and SMG-Reliant Park, which operates the stadium.

Careful approach

"Obviously (Reliant) is used for many other events than just the Texans games, and certainly the Texans receive priority, as they should," Rhoades said. "So trying to work through all that has been challenging.

"We don't necessarily foresee any issues, but we want to be careful and not be premature (in making an announcement)."

UH will play one Thursday night game, against USF, which will be televised by ESPN, and two Friday night games, against Southern and SMU. The SMU game, scheduled for the day after Thanksgiving, will be shown on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2.